Lost Between Words
by twilight guardian
Summary: Cloud has crashed his bike pursuing a mysterious monster and has found himself in the care of a young farmer girl named Claire. Claire tries to get close to Cloud, and Cloud just wants to leave. Neither seems to understand the others' feelings.
1. Man in the Barn

_I just want to say that I'm sorry to everyone who is expecting updates on Probation, The Catalyst and any of my other fanfics. I had writer's block and my laptop died. But I'm starting to work on chapters and hopefully my computer is coming back soon. As for this fanfic, well... It's actually written by two people: Myself, and Shest. We met at an anime convention; I was cosplaying as Claire and Shest was cosplaying as Cloud and I gave him a blue feather. Then we decided to make a comic/doujinshi, but I draw better if I have a detailed visual of what's going on so we decided to write a story. Actually that went kind of the other way around, but whatever. This is the crossover story that Shest and I have come up with for Claire and Cloud. Enjoy._

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**Lost Between Words**

**Chapter 1**

Claire awoke to the soft chirps of birds calling out to each other in a romantic, though chaotic chatter. Like every morning that she woke up, it was six in the morning. Claire was a woman who rose with the sun. She had gotten used to waking up this early the first year that she had begun her farming, getting to the point where she even woke before her alarm.

It was almost an unnecessary item, but she liked to keep it around just in case. After all, there was always the occasional late night of foraging, or the drinking sessions with her friends. Though sometimes she would cheat and reset her alarm for another two hours of wondrous sleep.

Despite being so young, Claire was already quite the successful farmer. It seemed that her life here in Mineral Town was exactly where she was meant to be. Her barn was filled and she was working on making another - as was her chicken coop. Her crops filled over half of her fields and were growing quite nicely. Every year they seemed to be growing more and more beautiful - especially so if she double sewn them. She also had a wonderful tree that supplied honey year round and juicy apples in the fall. Her home was still the tiny claustrophobic shack that she had started in only a few years ago on her nineteenth birthday. Still, it had all the necessities and luxuries that any farmer could hope for: a large warm bed, bookshelf, nightstand, shelf; to keep her ores, rocks and lumber, refrigerator; for keeping her produce cold and crisp, toolbox, and even a one level basement where she could grow out-of-season foods. This was rather useful, considering that the season was now winter, also known as the dead season, as no crops grow.

Feeding her dog and cat, named Satch and Naito, respectively, Claire then moved outside and to the barn. She fed and brushed her cows and sheep, paying special attention to one that she had impregnated with a special device called a Miracle Potion. She noted that her cow seemed to be rather annoyed with something, seeing the cow rather restless was a little worrying. She could also feel the muscles of her animal were tense under her touch. Had a wild dog found its way into the barn? She frowned to herself, pushing back a strand of long golden blonde hair behind her ear. If there was, then this time she was definitely gong to hit the darn thing with her hammer. She was fed up with the little beast.

Sneaking past her large animal, she looked around for anything that could resemble the feral creature that plagued the outskirts of town. What she saw instead caught her attention. Blonde human hair and black fabric.

"Oh my god!" She ran over to the figure that was half hidden in the hay, finding a young man around her age laying unconscious. "Hey... hey, wake up..." She murmured, gently shaking him. She felt around for a pulse, finding one that was slightly faint. She could tell from the moving of his chest and stomach that he was breathing which was a relief. Hastily, she took out her watering can and poured some water into her cupped hands. This was a rather difficult task, as she had to place the can in between her legs. Once her petite hands were full of the clean water, she tilted his head as best she could with her elbow and tried to pour some into his mouth. During this task she pushed aside the berating inner commentary of how she should have done so before she filled her hands. She hadn't exactly been thinking of the most methodical way to go about doing this and mostly acted in panic.

Violent images from past memories crashed through his mind and spread like wildfire showing him... reminding him of things he never wanted to remember, things he was better off forgetting.

It had to be a dream; such things never usually bothered him so much. His thoughts felt disconnected and weak as if it were someone else thinking them. His emotions, however; cut at him unwillingly with edges left jagged from years of neglect and mistreatment. The pain and confusion was much easier to ignore when awake.

Somewhere in his distant thoughts he thought he heard someone talking, possibly to him even, but it was immediately overpowered by the bombarding images that were harassing him relentlessly. It was all he could do not to scream out in pain and frustration.

The sudden gentle kiss of something cool dripping down his face dimmed the memories making it possible to push them aside, even just a little, as his mind slowly gained the ability to process coherent thought once more. His eyes, however; felt heavy, too heavy to open them, as did his body, but at least the images had faded and he was now more conscious of what was happening around him. Over the ringing in his ears he could make out sounds of animals but he wasn't able to put any of the sounds to names quite yet.

Another touch of the same cool substance ran down his throat at the same time he took a breath causing his body to tense and forcing him out of his paralysis as he began coughing. His whole body ached making it painful to move. There was a surprised gasp and someone shifting away, noted by the creek of the wooden floor.

Finally he opened his eyes, squinting from the sudden bright light of the morning sun. Everything was hazy and his vision spun. He closed his eyes again for a few moments before opening them once more, repeating this several times as he waited for the world to come back into focus. Blinking for a final time he found himself staring into the eyes of a girl. Her blue eyes were filled with concern as she stared back at him. Startled to find a stranger so close to him, especially in his weakened state, he jerked away unconsciously, sending a jolt of pain through his entire body as he did so.

He bit down a groan and closed his eyes again, forcing his emotions to the back of his mind. His mind raced as he tried to remember why he was here or where here even was but no distinct memory was any help to him. Taking a deep breath he opened his eyes and watched the girl carefully. Finally getting a good look at her he saw that she was older than he had initially thought, probably around his own age. It didn't matter though; he knew he had to leave immediately. She was better off not knowing him; he didn't want to bother her any longer than necessary.

Ignoring his body's protests he slowly staggered to his feet trying his best to appear in perfect health. Bits of hay stuck to his hair and clothes and his vision swam but he ignored that too. The faster he was gone the better.

Claire jumped when the strange young man suddenly rolled from his original position, barely able to keep in a squeak of surprise. She was about to speak when he stood up fully and began to walk towards the barn's entrance.

"H-H-Hey! Stop!" Claire cried, jumping back in front of him. The sudden loud call from their owner made the cows moan their calls, stamping their hooves and the sheep bleat, huddling together behind the cows. Claire tried desperately to keep him in place, or stop him from leaving the warm safety of the barn. Though he tried to hide it, she could tell that this young man was in no condition to be walking around.

Now that his thoughts were a little clearer, he vaguely remembered staggering into this building the previous night for some warmth and sleep, the building that he now recognized to be a barn.

She didn't know what to do. She needed to go and get Doctor and Elli, but their Clinic was on the other side of the village. She knew that if she tried to leave to get them, that he would surely leave the barn.

Looking at him now, he had rather strange clothes. And on his right hand held a rather large and heavy looking sword. It didn't look like it was possible for anyone in Mineral Town to lift - well, maybe Gray. He was a blacksmith that wielded heavy hammers and tools to make various things with his grandfather for a living. All anyone could say was that he was practically the star attraction of the girls on beach days when he ever decided to go swimming. But even then, Gray would probably have a hard time easily holding and wielding this ridiculously large weapon. Then again, she could probably give Gray a run for his money. While she was a small and fragile-looking creature, she was a farmer. She often went into the mines with Gray to look for ores and other valuables and even caught the local lake's Kappa with her fishing rod once - the strange creature was not happy. She also worked on her fields all day, so that had to count for something, right?

But the sword and clothes... everything about this man hinted that he was a foreigner. Someone from far away - farther than Forget-Me-Not Valley, Flower-Bud Village, Waffle Island, Sugar Village, Hinata Island or even the nearby city. She couldn't think of any other place nearby that he could have come from, which meant that he probably came from even further away - possibly from a different country altogether. She shook herself out of her mental tangent and followed the man to the barn door.

"Come on now, you're in no condition to move." Claire told him softly, extending her hands out to him.

His eyes wandered back the woman standing before him as she spoke once more. Her voice was softer this time and she held out her hand as a friendly gesture. He glanced at the outstretched hand briefly but made no move to take it or even acknowledge it any further.

"You gave me a scare. I thought you were already dead, do you really want to go out in this weather? It's snowing outside for Harvest Goddess' sake. You'll kill yourself." How... How could she convince this man to stay put while she ran to the other side of the village to get the doctor? Maybe if she rode her horse Reign? He was getting pretty fast. She was sure that he would win the Horse Races this year. But before she could properly plan this out, she had to make sure that this man was going to stay put.

Would he become violent if he wasn't allowed to leave? Would he start mindlessly swinging that ridiculously large sword of his around, killing her animals and possibly her just to get away? Who or what was he? Some sort of outlaw? Even if he was, she couldn't just let him die. He could barely stand let alone survive outside in the middle of winter.

She tried to stay calm, though her heart was pounding in her chest, and her breathing was slightly audible. She felt the adrenaline rushing through her body. She was truly scared. Though whether scared of this man attacking her and her animals, or scared of him dying, she didn't know.

She looked incredibly anxious but he couldn't tell whether or not it was his presence or if she was actually really worried. Automatically assuming the former he shifted his grip on his sword and pushed past her as carefully as he could so as not to scare her any further.

"I'm fine." He mumbled in a soft voice as void of emotion as he could make it. He attempted to fix his grip on his sword once more wishing he had enough strength left to actually carry it. All he could manage to do was drag the end in the dirt. He felt exhausted and if the sword hadn't been so important to him he would have just dropped it were he stood and left.

A cow nudged his shoulder as he passed almost causing him to drop the weapon anyway. He stopped and stared blankly at its placid expression. Without thinking he raised a gloved hand to touch the animal's face. It looked so peaceful, making him feel slightly envious of its simple and carefree life. Upon remembering that the woman was still there watching him, he hesitated, hand frozen just above its nose. His hand tightened into a fist and dropped quickly to his side as he started towards the door again.

He pushed open the large barn doors just wide enough to let himself pass. A sudden sharp pain on his right side almost forced him to double over but he ignored it as best he could. Unconsciously pressing his free hand over the wound he continued to trudge on. The surge of pain brought back the memories of why he had come to the small town in the first place. The roads had been icy and he had lost control of his bike while riding much too fast.

Closing his eyes for a brief moment he sighed internally, thinking to himself, _I guess I should probably go find it and hope that it still runs..._

To say the least, Claire was a little stunned at the strange young man's behaviors. But if her cows weren't scared of him, then she shouldn't be, either. There was a strange gentleness to him, witnessing his bizarre actions when he raised his hand to pet the nose of her cream-coloured cow was a testament to that. In fact... it was almost cute when he realized that she was still watching and immediately retracted his hand.

But for whatever reason he wasn't listening to logic. She could tell that somehow he was injured. He was limping heavily and he was clutching his side with his free hand and struggling not to stumble. She couldn't care for him in her house. She had to get him to Doctor as soon as she possibly could. Even if she had to resort to a bit of violence.

Her hands gripped around the shaft of her mallet-like hammer and slowly took it out of her rucksack. She quietly took a few steps towards the man while he seemed to be pausing because of the pain of an injury. She felt so guilty, standing behind him and holding her hammer, knowing that she was going to hit an injured person.

Outside, she heard a familiar crunching of boots in the freshly fallen snow. "Claire?" A gruff voice called. Her heart skipped a beat, immediately recognizing the voice. It was the awkward blacksmith that worked just a little ways up the road from her. She was a little surprised to hear him outside. Had it really been three days since she sent her axe to be upgraded?

"Gray!" Claire yelled as a sort of battle cry as she threw her arms down, the hammer falling on the man's back. She heard a grunt and watched as he fell to the ground. She dropped her hammer and her hands raised to either side of her head. "Oh Goddess, I hit an injured man..." She whispered to herself. She ran to his side, hoping that he was still conscious or breathing. It was at this moment that the shy and soft-spoken blacksmith opened the door to the barn. In his rough clenched fists he held a necklace made from gold and a diamond. He dropped it when he saw the man on the ground.

"Claire... wha-?"

"Gray, help me get this guy to the clinic!" He complied without another word and picked the blond man up with only slight difficulty. Claire ran past Gray and to the horse stable, where Reign was. Grabbing her horse, she jumped on with ease and raced back to the barn.

At the Clinic, the four were crowded around the stranger. Doctor had just finished bandaging his wounds and injuries. Elli had also just returned from having taken the man's strange clothing to wash. "Claire..." Doctor began. "I'm glad you brought him here. He wouldn't have lasted the trip up Mother's Hill in this condition." Claire nodded. Her farm was just before the forest, lake and Mother's Hill. He would have come through there and that must have been how he ended up in her barn. How he saw that and not the chicken coup or her own house she wasn't sure. The snow had come down heavily last night, so she could only assume the visibility was terrible. "I gave him both doses of Turbojolt and Bodigizer. He should wake up, soon. Anything else I would rather wait until he's conscious to see if he has a negative reaction. Without any medical records I wouldn't want to chance it."

Claire sighed in relief. Looking at the face of the supposedly sleeping man, she saw exactly how handsome he truly was. Of course, this village made her quite accustomed to being around handsome men. This village was like a breeding ground for beautiful people. But it was a different kind of beautiful than that in which this young man had, which only further proved of his foreign heritage. But why was he travelling around in the middle of winter? And what's more, on Mother's Hill. She heard stories about Mother's Hill in winter. The gruff and burly carpenter that lived just south of her property, Gotz knew perfectly well just how dangerous the place was. She remembered when he finally told her his sad story. While none of that could deter her from going up there as often as she pleased, she became noticeably more careful. She couldn't count how many times she stepped on a hidden patch of ice and almost slid off the edge of the path, dangerously close to sliding down the hill.

She sighed, pulling up a chair and sat down beside the man's bed. She couldn't just leave him. What if he woke up while Doctor and Elli were off doing chores and he wandered outside in this condition? Gray had left not very long ago, she realized, and she had asked if he could ask Rick to take care of her chickens. She hadn't been able to do so while taking care of this person. Her chickens would be fine. Rick and his family owned the Poultry farm just cross from the blacksmith's. So it wasn't that long of a walk. She would have to thank Rick with a basket of Spa Boiled Eggs when everything was taken care of. She knew by now that anything concerning chickens would be that man's favorite.

Cloud groaned as his scarring dreams were gradually replaced with real pain. His head felt clouded with a thick haze and he found it incredibly hard to think. However, he felt much warmer than he had been in quite some time, even though he wasn't exactly sure why.

Slowly he opened his eyes, immediately sensing that something wasn't right. He squinted in the bright lights trying to figure out what was wrong. Breathing in deeply, he squeezed his eyes shut for a few brief moments to give both his vision and thoughts time to clear.

Upon opening his eyes once more he was a little more successful in determining where he was, or a least what kind of place he was in. Some sort of hospital. Instantly a wave of panic swept through him as memories of the last time he had found himself in a medical type setting invaded his mind. Experimented on like he were a lab rat...

Cloud shot upright on the bed he was on; his heart was racing and he was half expecting to be either tied to the bed or violently shoved back down by men in white lab coats. He was surprised to find little resistance as he sat up, but before he could process anything further a wave of nausea replaced the panic and the room began to spin violently.

He held a hand over his eyes trying to will the world to stop moving but all he could do was fall back on to the bed breathing heavily. Because of his sudden movements his side burned with a new flame. He clenched his teeth together to stop himself from crying out. The rest of his body hurt too but compared to the pain in his side the rest was just a minor throbbing.

Small hands wrapped around his broad shoulders, placing a bit of resistance on his body to place him back down. Cloud tensed slightly from the sudden temperature difference on his side as a cool cloth was placed over his wound. He wasn't sure if it helped or hindered but the coolness gave him something else to think about. Then his forehead met with something cold and wet - a cold cloth. Claire had placed the cloth on his forehead, while another woman, the nurse Elli had tried to force him to lay back down.

"Elli, did Doctor look at his side? That seems to be an area to look at." There was no immediate response from the brunette.

"I'll get Trent to take another look at him. But I'm sure that he swept through the man's entire body during the initial examination." The blankets that were over his chest were removed, and fingers pressed as gingerly as possible around the area.

"I'm no expert, but it feels like it's pretty tender. You sure he didn't miss spots? I mean, when was the last time you saw Doctor sleep?"

"True... the poor man. We've both been rather busy, what with Stu catching a cold, my grandmother's condition. Lillia's new bouts of sickness and even Barley is feeling his age." Claire looked down at the blond, her fingers lingering on his body before moving to the bowl of cold water, where another towel rested.

"Lillia hasn't gotten any better? I always get so worried for her during winter. And just imagine Rick... If thinking about Lillia gets me worried imagine what it's like for her son."

"Rick's a strong, reliable man, and Lillia is a strong, resilient woman. But now we should take care of this stranger." Claire nodded, taking the spare cloth and dipping it into the water. She wrung it out before opening it and placing it over the sore spot on his side.

Claire leaned over after Elli left to get the doctor, and she frowned. "Idiot. You must have some sort of death wish." She raised her hands once more, pausing briefly over his head before brushing his spikes from his face. Then again, she didn't exactly help with his situation, did she? A pang of guilt entered her body and she wished that he wouldn't remember that little fact. If he did, she was fully prepared to profusely apologize.

The voice stole his focus away from the pain as he tried to figure out where he'd heard it before. Tifa? He wondered silently. It sounded like something she would say, in the same disapproving tone and everything.

He would probably never hear the end of it if Tifa ever found out he'd crashed his bike while speeding on a mountain covered with ice. However, he'd felt it had been necessary because after weeks of searching he had finally sighted his target on his radar, which was a considerable improvement from following wild tales and general directions. It was a fast creature and he had to ride full speed just to keep up.

Tifa had tried to talk him out of taking the mission, telling him it was too far away and to just let a mercenary closer to the area deal with it. But he had insisted that if the others had been capable of taking it out news of it wouldn't have had to travel so far. Unable to argue any further she had sighed loudly, called him an idiot and pretty much ordered him to not do anything stupid.

Why would Tifa be here though? Not that he particularly knew where here was; it just made no sense for her to have followed him. Then again it kind of did; she always seemed to worry excessively about him. He decided it didn't matter because if she was here then he had nothing to worry about.

He opened his eyes again relieved to find that the room had stopped spinning. The room he was occupying was mostly empty save for a chair or two and the bed he was on; the walls were white giving the room a bright glow as light coming in from a window reflected off them.

A young woman sat beside him watching him with eyes that spoke she was determined to make sure he stayed where he was. Cloud blinked first in surprise to find it wasn't Tifa and then in recognition when he realized that it was the same girl from the barn.

Putting the facts together he came to the conclusion that he must have passed out trying to leave and this woman had somehow gotten him to medical help. Despite being in a strange place he felt his entire body relax a bit as his past experience with doctors was ruled out.

Unable to take her watchful eye, Cloud turned his head away and stared at nothing in particular; he was wasting time lying here. While he did not deny that he had needed some rest there were other things that needed to be done, not to mention that he had to eventually return home. Of course, in order to do that he had to find his bike and he could almost guess that it would probably need some repairs done before it would run again. His target was probably long gone by now, however; if he left immediately he might still have a chance.

Slowly Cloud lifted himself up on to his elbows, wincing slightly as he did so, and turned back to the woman. "Where are my things?" He spoke in a quiet but firm voice. "I have to leave."

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_Thanks for reading. We enjoyed writing this. Please leave a review, it would be much appreciated. We'll be updating slowly as we're both rather busy, especially Shest. Takes a long time to write a response lol._


	2. Hospital Arguments

_I finally decided that it was time to post chapter 2 of LBW. This chapter is much shorter than the last. Both Shest and I decided that it was appropriate to end the chapter where it did._

_Also, thank you for all who have reviewed LBW. We are glad that you enjoyed our story and hope that you will continue to enjoy it. We love hearing from you._

_Enjoy._

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**Lost Between Words  
Chapter 2**

"I wouldn't recommend you leaving after everything that you've been through." A man possibly five or six years older than Cloud himself walked in. He wore a white coat and a large round head mirror, something that was rather rare to see in the more advanced cities. His black hair was unkempt and messy and his eyes were slightly bloodshot with dark circles under them. This was undoubtedly the Doctor Trent that Claire and Elli had been talking about, though whether Cloud remembered this particular information was unknown to the girls.

"Elli told me that you felt that his side was tender." Doctor said to Claire. She nodded.

"It's his right side."

"Ah, really? I wonder how I missed that." She watched as the doctor moved to the stranger and began to feel up and down his patients' side, feeling a little sorry for the doctor. While this was a small town, Doctor had always said it wasn't an excuse to not work hard. Instead of having many patients, he would focus more intensely on the few he did have. And Elli had also told her that their monthly medical shipment from the city was late, meaning that Doctor had to make his own temporary medicines by foraging the forest; though while that in itself didn't cause that many problems, his stock was limited to the medicines of his making.

Cloud didn't move as the man in white sat down and began pressing his side, searching for what was wrong. Only by focusing on keeping his breathing steady, was he able to keep all of the pain and discomfort off his face...at least he hoped he was.

After a few minutes, which he knew undoubtedly felt to his patient like an eternity, Trent stopped his inspections. When he finally moved his hands away from the sore spot, he watched the younger man with a serious look on his face. "I'm sorry, stranger. But you aren't going anywhere. It will take some X-Rays to find out the extent of your injuries, but I can say that it feels as though in the least you've bruised or even cracked your ribs."

The verdict of bruised or cracked ribs was not a surprising one. It would make things difficult but it wasn't like this was the first time he'd injured something. However, he wasn't about to let broken bones stop him from doing his job. He would have time rest and recover later. Until then he had to stay on his feet ready for anything.

"I'll go to the Inn and tell Doug and Ann that they have a new guest." Elli said, as she picked up her scarf and went to get her coat. Claire ran after her, stopping her before she could get out of the room.

"That's not going to be possible. They're all filled-up. With Gray and Cliff in one room. Gourmet has come early. Ruby is also on vacation and is staying at the Inn as well." Elli looked a little worried. Because the village was so small, there weren't a lot of visitors that came to the village. Therefore, the Inn wasn't all that large.

"Oh dear... what a bad time for the Inn to be full."

"He can stay with me. I have my old single bed somewhere in storage. I can just bring it out again." Claire said. She turned back to Cloud, knowing that he would probably argue. Even if he was going to, he couldn't dispute the facts - he was injured. Doctor wouldn't allow such an injured man to just leave without healing, and Claire herself didn't want to just see him leave after he had given her such a scare.

He opened his mouth to repeat his last question, this time, with full intentions of getting an answer instead of being ignored and having the decisions made for him. Their approval wasn't necessary but he did need his clothes and sword before venturing back out into the snow to find his bike. However, the man in white beat him to the questioning.

"So what's your name?" The doctor asked casually, as if he were trying to induce small talk, probably to make him forget about leaving. Cloud eyed the man silently while he decided whether or not to answer. Why he would want the name of a complete stranger was beyond him. Personally, he had no interest in knowing another's name. Unless, he supposed, it was for the sake of convenience. Doctors were always big on keeping organized records.

"...Cloud..." He finally answered, finding it unnecessary to elaborate any further. It wasn't like he would be here for much longer anyway.

The man nodded, "So what brings you here to Mineral Town?"

Cloud's eyes narrowed but he remained silent. Quickly he looked away before any of them had a chance to notice the dangerous look he had let slip for a brief moment. Most people wanted nothing to do with mercenaries. Others were purely afraid of them. Either way people didn't usually take kindly to people who knew how to kill, especially those who did it for money.

"Not important." He said after a long awkward silence, still unable to look anyone in the face. There was no reason to tell them. They were probably happier not knowing anyway.

Slowly he raised himself up into a sitting position being careful not to show any signs of pain otherwise he may end up tied to the bed. The room swayed a bit but he was able to blink that away easily enough without making it too obvious. He turned back to the doctor who still seemed slightly put off by his last answer but appeared to be more annoyed that he was not lying down.

"I have to go." He repeated, staring down the dark look he was getting from the doctor with an even expression. He continued before the man could say anything. "I'll be fine."

Despite everything, the blond man still wanted to leave. The three had been intentionally trying to distract the injured traveller, though their attempts seemed to be in vain. He was too focused to let himself be tricked. Claire's jaw tightened when she heard of his moderately emotionless questions for his things. Anger and frustration built up inside of her and she clenched her fist in an effort to relieve some of it. This guy; he was so selfish...

Doctor and Elli were about to protest when Claire interrupted them. "Let him go." She said in a cold voice. "_We_ know he won't survive out there for even three hours, but apparently the spill he took killed all of his brain cells that govern reasoning." Her large bright blue eyes glared at Cloud the entire time that she spoke, thus while she was talking to Doctor and Elli, she was also talking directly to Cloud at the same time. "Obviously he's not grateful in the least of what we've done, or even thanking us for our hospitality."

She was ranting by now, obviously frustrated by the injured man. She couldn't comprehend why Cloud was in such a hurry to leave despite his injuries. What, was he scared of them? The small little town in which they lived? He was from the city, wasn't he? He was scared of the small-town hicks for some reason that was unknown to her. Sure, she had a habit of over-reacting, but she was very sensitive about her friends. Only those people who lived in small towns could really understand what people were like living here. And it only made her feel worse to think that she was actually once one of those 'outsiders', as she was originally from the city.

Claire turned directly to Cloud now, pointing a finger at his chest. "Whatever. I don't care. You can go and die on the frozen lake for all I care and your frozen body will be buried in the snow. And when spring comes I hope the Kappa eats you." Now she was just being unusual - though possibly only to the two friends of hers that were standing near her. Everyone knew of the local Japanese water sprite that lived in the lake. The illiterate and rude creature who only knew how to speak in broken English. Though, everyone also knew of the creature's purely vegetarian diet - the only thing that people ever saw it eat were cucumbers. At least that was the only thing that it accepted whenever someone threw something into the lake. But Claire was too frustrated now to care about the details.

"Claire..." Elli said in a low, surprised voice. Claire didn't lose her temper often like this, and she knew that it would be shocking to reveal that side of her to her friends. But she couldn't help it. Was this guy really this stupid? Didn't he care if he died?

Throughout the entirety of the woman's rant, Cloud listened with a blank expression, not quite sure what to think. It wasn't the first time he'd been issued one of these 'talks' and it probably wouldn't be the last one he heard. Tifa lectured him constantly sometimes about being too injured to leave or too tired to continue. She was obviously angry and seemed incredibly offended as if she figured he was leaving just to annoy her. His eyes stared at the wall just behind her head then slowly drifted away to stare at the simple pattern on the floor. What he'd never understood, not then and not now either, was why everyone was always so against him rushing off to help others. He would rather go alone than have another risk their life and the faster and sooner he completed his missions the less people got hurt. His own life was void and had no real purpose anymore. Helping others was the only thing that made him feel that his life might actually be worth something...Besides no one would mourn his death anyway.

Her pride and feelings were hurt. Maybe she was just being sensitive or immature; but she almost had a heart attack when she saw the seemingly lifeless man half buried in her cow's hay, and even had to beat the poor guy with her hammer to get him to the clinic. She wasted half of her day worrying about this man when she could have finished with her chores, went to the mines and broke rocks all day looking for a decent winter income. But she hadn't, she had chosen to give a Harvest Sprite's foot about the stranger and wasted her time - and for what? An 'I'm leaving' with no thanks, no gratitude or anything. He wasn't even going to wait until he was healed before taking his sorry butt out of the town. She stopped and took a deep breath before speaking again in a more calm tone of voice, though it was still apparent that she was angry from the bitterness that leaked out.

"Excuse me," She practically growled. "I have to go buy some flour..." Flour... the favourite item of the Harvest Sprites and only acceptable thing to give the little creatures after they helped with farm chores. She didn't like asking the sprites for help unless if she really needed them - despite the fact that they adored her and told her they would gladly help her any time. Today she would need their help if she wanted to get all her chores done before dark.

Doctor sighed as he watched Claire leave, turning back to the man. Elli had gone after her friend, wanting to at least calm her down and have her come back. "We don't get a lot of mercenaries and soldiers around here. This is a rather peaceful area, Mr. Cloud; many of us have never seen them before. And while I don't exactly know of your profession, I can guess that is somewhere along these lines. The only one who has probably seen an actual soldier won't be coming until the summer months. Now, if you don't mind the gossiping ladies and the quietness of the village, then I can say that you're welcome to stay. We won't judge you, but in the end it's your decision." He had returned after being in the next room for his X-Ray machine, having left just before Claire's rant.

The woman finished her rant with a declaration of the need to buy flour, the reason unknown to him, and a dramatic exit. Her leave made things easier; she looked as though she was ready to hold him down herself in order to keep him here to rest. He might have given in and stayed a couple of days if it hadn't been for the fact that he had chased the strange creature into this snowy land so there was a monster out there these people weren't even aware of. The guilt he felt was almost more unbearable than the pain in his side.

"...patients, I must say that it would be a wise decision to stay and rest up."

Cloud turned away from the open door he hadn't realized he was staring at to look back to the doctor who apparently had been talking to him. Although he had missed most of what the man had said based on the end it was obvious it had been about the reasons he needed to stay.

"I can't." Was all he offered as his side of the argument. He was staring at the ground again, a little unsure of where to look.

The man in white signed heavily as he turned towards the door. "I'm sorry to hear that...but I'll get your clothes."

After the man left Cloud rubbed his face in exhaustion. His whole body ached and he wasn't entirely sure how he planned to kill the thing in this condition. Letting his head roll back he closed his eyes and sighed quietly. As long as he just focused on finding his bike he could use some of the first aid items he had in his bag; there were a few things that would numb the pain for a while. Then he could worry about killing the creature.

Cloud lowered his head when he began to hear footsteps moving towards the room but he didn't look at the doctor when he entered. The man tossed his clothes on to the bed quickly as if to get rid of them before he decided not to give them back. Nodding his thanks, Cloud took them and began pulling them on not caring about whether or not the doctor left. Standing up was a little difficult initially but once his vision had more or less cleared he was able to find his balance.

Once dressed, he turned his attention to the man standing in the doorway. Neither of them moved a brief but awkward moment. The man was staring him down as if trying one last time to get him to reconsider. Cloud looked away first, unable to take the eye contact any longer. He heard the man sigh again and finally move out of the way.

Immediately Cloud walked to the door but hesitated just outside of it. He stood there in silence, back to the doctor. "Thank you." He said finally. "Tell her...sorry..."

Without looking back he frowned as he began walking out of the building a little unsure as to why he had said that last part.

Cloud grabbed a tree branch nearby to stop himself from falling. His breathing was ragged and it burned to take each breath. His head throbbed violently with pain rivalling that of a migraine. His sword had been temporarily demoted to nothing more than a crutch to keep him standing.

It had taken him a fair amount of wandering to find the barn he had gone to for the previous night but since he could see the mountain from the clinic he had known what general direction he had needed to go.

He couldn't find his bike anywhere and he'd been looking for what felt like hours. All he'd managed to find was the crash site where the snow was littered with blood, gas and pieces of his bike. That was where he stood now, feeling slightly defeated as he stared at the place where his bike should have been. Leaning back on a tree, he slowly slid down until he was on the ground; all of his energy was suddenly gone. Maybe if he slept for an hour or so he'd have enough energy to continue his search. His head fell back on to the tree and his eyes closed.

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_That's the end of chapter 2. I don't know when chapter 3 will be released. Thank you for your patience._

_- twilight guardian, Shest~_


	3. Gotz

I'm sorry that I haven't been all that active. And I do admit the main reason why this chapter is coming up is because it was already pre-written a long time ago and all I really had to do was just do a bit of editing. I have a lot of free time on my hands so hopefully I can be a lot more active with all my stories. A big thanks to everyone who has reviewed my story and enjoyed it. Here's chapter 3, enjoy!

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Lost Between Words  
Chapter 3

The sound of crunching snow echoed in the distance but Cloud was too out of it to hear. The crunching footfalls kept getting closer and closer until they eventually stopped. A large burly man with wild black hair and just as wild a beard stopped in front of the near unconscious man. He glared down at the blond before bending over and picking him up, slinging the mercenary over his back like a sack of food or a dead animal. Despite the snow being as deep as it was, the feral man didn't seem as though he had any difficulty moving around.

He took Cloud to a small log cabin in the woods. It was smaller than a normal home, but surprisingly warm. The man placed Cloud in his bed and under the blankets, making sure that he was warm enough. He moved past his tools and working area and to the kitchen where he began to make some hot soup for the stranger when he finally decided to wake up.

Cloud's saviour was the quiet mountain man and local carpenter named Gotz. He lived just south of Claire's farm. He had actually witnessed Cloud's rather violent crash, however, hadn't bothered with the man since he looked like he was fine on his own, or at least conscious. He figured that Cloud would have been smart enough to get help. Gotz did, however, take Cloud's bike. And since the closest thing the village had to a mechanic was the Blacksmiths, he had no choice but to ship it out to the city for repairs.

Gotz knew exactly what Cloud was. He could tell just from the unusual clothing and large weapon. Only very few people in this town did know: Doctor, Ellen, Barley, the traveller Kai, Basil, Saibara and of course Gotz himself. It had been years since a soldier or mercenary came anywhere near the small clusters of towns that made up the Domains of the Goddesses. And while Gotz didn't particularly like mercenaries and anyone close to their profession, he still knew that they were people. It was against the Goddess's wishes to be cruel to anyone who was in need of help, though the people of the town were kindhearted by nature and upbringing, thus their beloved Goddess was always happy.

The stew that Gotz was cooking was almost done. He had to thank the local female farmer for giving him so many wonderful produce in order to make his beloved dish. Yes, Mountain Stew was his favourite thing to eat, and Claire often made him a batch, or even brought him ingredients to make it himself.

Cloud groaned as he opened his eyes carefully and peered, once again, at the ceiling of a strange place. His head felt like it was full of cotton and as if someone were beating it with a hammer. Smoke from the fire, he could both smell and hear, burned his eyes and made it even harder to breathe. Each shallow breath sent a stab of pain straight through his body. He was also cold, so cold neither the fire nor the thick blankets did anything to warm him.

His thoughts and memories came back slowly but they still said nothing about where he was this time. The last thing he remembered was finding his bike missing, then...nothing. Did someone live on the mountain then? Cloud let his head fall to the side towards the rest of the small house. It was a cozy one roomed place making it apparent that only one person lived in it. Moonlight shone through the only window telling Cloud the time of day. However, he didn't see its owner. With a great amount of difficulty and pain Cloud tried to sit up even a bit so he could see the entire room but was stopped by a rough voice.

"Move and I will come over there and beat you until you can't."

Cloud twisted around, wincing as he did so, to find a wild looking man with even wilder hair glaring at him with eyes that told him he was completely ready to carry out his threat. He thought he even saw a small glint that said the man was quite willing too, but he wasn't entirely sure. Looking away, he laid back down and stared blankly at the ceiling again. He seemed to have a knack for waking up in strange places. Only this time he had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to leave so easily.

The smell from the food the man was cooking made him feel slightly nauseous and the thought of actually consuming it made him feel even sicker to his stomach, even though it had been awhile since he had last eaten and he was hungry. He didn't think he would be able to keep anything down, especially not with the room spinning as much as it was.

The large man walked around his things to the bed and set a bowl of the soup, he'd smelled, on a chair beside him. "Eat it. Since you seem to be capable of wandering around in the snow in that condition I'm sure you can manage to feed yourself as well."

Cloud did not fail to miss the demeaning tone in the man's voice. This man obviously didn't like him and most definitely didn't want him around. Which, with his experience, usually meant one of two things: the man just didn't like the company of people, which was entirely plausible given that the man lived alone on a mountain, or he knew that Cloud was a mercenary. Cloud guessed it had to be a combination of the two.

"Tomorrow I'm taking you back to the clinic where you had bloody well stay if you don't want to die. I ain't gonna fish you out'a the snow again." The man's tone was cold and to the point. "Your bike was a mess so I sent it to the city for repairs so now you don't have any reason to come up here. Bloody mercs...think they're so much better than everyone else..." The last part sounded as though he were mumbling it to himself although he said it loud enough for Cloud to hear so it was obviously an insult as well.

He ignored the soup, closing his eyes instead. He felt so tired and could feel his consciousness slowly slipping away. The cracking of the fire suddenly sounded very far away and he could hear a soft buzz in his ears, which seemed to get a little louder as the seconds passed. Somewhere in the distance he thought he heard the man say something about eating but he couldn't quite catch it. Everything seemed to fade away as he blacked out once again.

Gotz had slept on the floor next to his carpentry equipment, and as per usual woke up rather early. He was a little angry that Cloud didn't eat the stew that he cooked, though he guessed that it couldn't be helped. He would have to reheat the stew and try to make him eat it. If not, then he would eat it himself. He gave a small groan as he stood up, feeling slightly stiff,, working at his muscles until they felt warmed up enough to work without much complaining.

He glanced over to his own bed where the blond mercenary was still sleeping. The idiot must have caught a cold as well going back out there in the cold winter just to go back to get his bike. And if the cold, unforgiving landscape around Mother's Hill didn't kill him, then chances are that whatever he was chasing would.

There was a knock on the door. There were only two options in which it could be. Either a customer who forgot that he didn't start work for another couple of hours, or Claire, who was here to give him another batch of vegetables. Knowing that it was probably the latter, Gotz walked over to the door and tried to look as presentable as possible to the young farmer girl.

He opened the door, and just like he expected, there she was. "Ah, Claire. Please come in." Gotz said to the heavily bundled-up girl. She always looked adorable in her winter gear. Ellen made scarfs anually for Claire and other young villagers who took the time to visit the chair-ridden woman. Of course, every year the scarfs became fluffier and fluffier until they were as big as one's head and neck. This left Claire nice and cozy, though struggling to keep her eyes open so that she could see what she was doing.

"Gotz, I brought some more veggies!" She chirped. The young woman stopped when she saw a lump in Gotz' bed and the familiar large sword leaning against the wall. "Gotz...is that?"

The older man nodded. "Found 'im passed out in the snow. Couldn't let 'im just freeze out there so I brought him back here." Claire nodded, sighing and shaking her head. She had never met such a stubborn man.

"And I suppose he's going right back out in the cold when he wakes up, or did you give him one of your famous threats?" The man's beard twitched, signalling a smirk or smile of some sort.

"Some'n like that. I told him I was sending him back to the clinic. He didn't eat anything last night, so I bet he's rather hungry. Damn kids these days. Still picky enough to choose what they eat if they're starvin'." Claire shook her head.

"Gotz..."

"He may just not like my cookin' none. I'd be real nice to have some of your nice meals, Claire." The young farmer blushed. She never really thought of her cooking as all that great. She had yet to beat Ruby, Doug and even Ann in the cooking festivals held each spring. But she figured to a mountain man like Gotz, a woman's home-made cooking always tasted good. Plus anything had to be better than Karen's cooking.

When Cloud awoke again he could hear voices chatting to one another somewhere in the room. He opened his eyes, this time, to a familiar ceiling. The room was brighter than it had been meaning that it must be sometime during the day. Because of the small amount of rest he felt slightly better than he had last night but his head still felt clouded and still throbbed painfully. He tried to focus on the voices, hoping to take his mind away from the pain and stiffness he was feeling. One was obviously the threatening man who owned this house and the other...He listened as she spoke...was the girl from the barn; the one who had been so furious with him. Cloud bit back a groan; she was the last person he wanted to see him here in such horrible condition. He could almost hear the 'I told you so'.

"Ah, you're awake." The big man spoke, apparently noticing that he had awakened. "I warmed up the soup, so eat it and then we'll take you to the clinic."

Even if he had wanted to eat he didn't think he was capable of it at the moment. His entire body felt much too heavy and even moving his head sent the room spinning.

Judging by his lack of motion, the man must have come to the conclusion that he either didn't want to eat or couldn't actually eat because he heard him sigh and walk over. The man took the bowl from the chair and sat in it himself facing Cloud. Setting the bowl down for a moment he then proceeded to grab another pillow and used it to prop Cloud's head up a bit. Then he grabbed the bowl again. Cloud closed his eyes to let the wave of dizziness pass. When he opened them he found the man watching him expectantly. His eyes drifted to the bowl in the man's lap. Biting back a groan he turned his head away, unwilling to let himself sink so low as to need another person to spoon feed him.

"You want me to shove it down your throat?" The man growled dangerously. 'Cause I will and I will enjoy it. I could care less about what happens to you but Claire seems mighty worried about you for whatever reason, so you'll eat this and then I'm takin' you back to the clinic where you will stay and recover."

From anyone else the last part of that comment could have been taken as a kind gesture but Cloud could feel the threatening message the man purposely added with his tone alone. Reluctantly Cloud turned back and allowed himself to be fed the warm soup. His face burned in embarrassment and humiliation the entire time. He settled for childishly glaring at the man who glared right back, only rather smugly and obviously enjoying Cloud's embarrassment.

Claire, meanwhile, stood there quietly the whole time, feeling a little awkward watching the scene before her. She stayed quiet as to not bother them. She was glad that Gotz had taken care of Cloud during the night. It was a miracle that the man had found him out there at all. She barely got any sleep the previous night, worrying that the strange young blond would freeze to death during the night.

"There, that wasn't so hard now was it?" The man said mockingly when the bowl was empty. Cloud looked away glowering at nothing in particular and refusing to respond. He could hear the sound of the bowl being set aside. "Now I guess it's time we got you back to the clinic." The man sounded unusually cheerful all of a sudden. Cloud figured he was enjoying his humiliation way too much.

Before Cloud could process what was happening the big man picked him up and almost carelessly threw him over his shoulder as if he were only slightly more important than a sack of potatoes. Cloud groaned as his vision spun relentlessly and the new contents in his stomach threatened to leave. He gasped for a breath flinching at the pain in his chest with nearly every one he took.

The man chuckled but said nothing as he started to walk towards the door. Then, after grabbing his sword, he proceeded to follow the woman outside.

Claire frowned as she watched Gotz handle the young man named Cloud so roughly that he passed out. "Gotz! You don't have to be so rough! He's injured, you know. His ribs are broken." She scolded him, disapprovingly. She knew that Gotz was sensitive about people going up Mother's Hill in the winter time, and because of the incident he had become a very cold and almost bitter man. That didn't seem like a valid excuse in her eyes to just treat the injured man just so as though that was a sort of extra punishment.

The moving ground did nothing to help Cloud's already spinning vision and neither did the up and down motion from the walking. He managed to raise one hand high enough to cover his eyes hoping to stop the spinning but his head still felt like it was swimming in mud.

He almost lost his meal when the man adjusted him on his shoulder, jabbing him in the stomach harshly. His hand fell from his face too tired to keep up there. Black spots invaded his vision, clouding everything over with a faint fog. He heard a familiar buzzing in his ears. His vision slowly faded to nothing and he passed out for the umpteenth time in the past twenty four hours.

Claire glared at Gotz when she realized that Cloud had passed out from the pain. She didn't understand why he was being unnecessarily cruel about this. It seemed like the only person that he truly got along with these days besides the old police man Harrison was Claire herself - though that was probably because they spent so much time together.

When Claire first came to the farm, it was in a sorry state. Everything was small, old and rotting. It would only be natural for her to establish a good relationship with the local carpenter, as he came often whenever she ordered repairs. And to show that she truly appreciated his work she gave him drinks and snacks while he worked. She heard Gotz complaining before that he stopped working for some people for various intervals of time because he felt under-appreciated for his efforts.

Yes, while all of that was certain, what she wasn't certain of was his attitude towards Cloud. Maybe it was because of his large weapon, or maybe because the blond was stupid enough to try and look for his bike in the winter time. Maybe it was a combination of both.

One thing for sure, was that she was thankful that she had used Reign to travel to Gotz's cabin today. She knew that it wouldn't be good for Cloud if Gotz carried him as such the entire way. With a stern voice she told Gotz to place Cloud on her horse and they would walk back together, supporting the man so he wouldn't fall off.

Claire had to sit behind Cloud on the horse so he wouldn't fall off, awkwardly positioning herself so she could see around the man's broad chest. She opted to position her arms around his body, under his arms and her chin barely resting on his shoulder. She could ride like this without incident, but it would be getting off her horse that would prove to be the problem. At least Gotz would be there for the ride back to the clinic. If Doctor and Ellie could help that would be great.


	4. Hints of Peace

To apologize for my lack of doing anything I decided that I'm going to upload two chapters today. So here's chapter 4. Enjoy!

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Lost Between Words  
Chapter 4

As with all small villages and towns, news of the injured stranger spread like wildfire through the town, and he was known to everyone who resided in the village in a matter of hours. The knowledge of his being here obviously was contributed to the local gossips, Anna, Manna, and Sasha - three older women, both wives and mothers that love spending their time spreading scandalous information and gossip tid-bits to each other and whoever cared to listen.

The unconscious man was even visited by a few of the villagers around his age. Popuri and Rick brought some Spa Boiled Eggs, Karen brought some sort of unmentionable... something that she cooked. Luckily she also bought a bottle of wine with that, though how good wine and injuries would fare together was up for speculation. They were only a few of the things that were brought to both make the man feel more comfortable, and to help out Elli and Doctor with their care of the man.

Claire and Elli had set the gifts down on a coffee table near the bed in which Cloud rested. Below all of them was a cloak that Elli's grandmother Ellen had made, wanting to - in some small way - help Cloud out a little bit the best and only way she knew how.

"Well... I guess that just leaves it up to him waking up." Doctor said, having finished fully bandaging his wounds. He also held pictures which were obviously the X-Rays he took of Cloud's ribs.

"Z-Zack..." Cloud reached towards his friend, watching him leave but unable to do anything about it. He tried to extend his arm further but it was already at its limit. "Don't...Zack come back..." He had a sick feeling that Zack wasn't coming back but his limbs refused to cooperate. Desperately he tried forcing his body to move forward but it was as if there was a wall in front of him, restricting his movements.

"ZACK!" He could see him now, lying in the mud dying. If only he had been there; if only he had been stronger...he could have helped him; he wouldn't have died. Tears welled up in his eyes but refused to fall, blurring his sight. He tried crawling closer, but he still couldn't move.

"Cloud!"

Cloud froze in both surprise and confusion; that wasn't Zack's voice. The image of Zack began to fade and was gradually replaced with a different man, one that looked almost familiar. This man was shaking him gently, watching him with confused wide eyes. Cloud blinked the rest of the dream away as he became more conscious of where he was. He was sitting up in a bed back in the medical building again.

"Are you alright?"

A dream...that's all it was. Cloud stared down at the blankets on his bed trying to slow his breathing but wasn't having a whole lot of luck. The man let go of him and stepped back to give him some space.

It had been a long time since he'd had a dream similar to that. He thought he had put Zack's death behind him. What could have possibly made him think about it again? A few tears dripped down onto his hands, startling him out of his thoughts. Immediately he rubbed his eyes in a poor attempt to hide the fact that he was on the verge of crying. Maybe he had a fever; they tended to bring unwanted dreams.

Closing his eyes he took a deep breath and laid back down, feeling exhausted already and he wasn't even completely awake yet. He could feel the eyes of the people in the room on him probably wondering what had just happened.

He rolled over onto his left side facing away from them, feeling slightly embarrassed for showing strangers that he was haunted by nightmares. Another one that plagued him often was Aerith's death but he refused to think about it. He thought about the pain instead; it hurt far less than the memories of either of their deaths.

He tried to focus on what he was going to do now. Leaving had obviously been a bad idea because he was basically exactly where he had started only in worse condition this time. His bike was gone, sent away to the city apparently; although how the man had done it, especially in such a short time in the winter, was beyond him. Maybe if he called Tifa she could arrange to have him picked up...Cloud discarded that thought immediately. That was the last thing he wanted to do. It was bad enough that he had been gone so long, let alone totaling his bike and injuring himself so badly he could barely walk.

Really, the only thing that he could do was stay and recover, which wasn't looking much more appealing than calling Tifa. He doubted the people of this small town would welcome him with open arms when they found out his profession. That man from the mountain was proof that he wasn't wanted here.

It hurt to lie on his side but he ignored the throbbing as best he could. He wasn't ready to face the people in the room yet. They were probably filled with questions he didn't want to answer and comments he didn't want to hear, like telling him off for being an idiot and careless and just plain stupid. What he wanted to know was why they cared at all; they didn't even know him.

"You shouldn't lay on your side, dummy. Your ribs are broken." The same soft voice of the farmer that had been plaguing him for the last couple of days rose. A small hand fell on his shoulder, though flinched back, as though he was going to snap at her. When she realized that he wouldn't, or that it just didn't matter, she placed it back down.

"Hey, um... you're name is Cloud, right?" Claire really wanted to ask Cloud about what had happened and why he was screaming Zack's name. Elli even thought that their local boater, aptly named Zack had known this young man and suggested to get the middle-aged trader. But Claire could tell that he didn't want to talk about his past or anything for that matter. She wanted to know so much. Why he was travelling in winter, why he wanted to leave so badly, why he didn't want to wait for his wounds to heal. And other things like where he was from, why he had such weird clothes and a large sword, who Zack was and all other sorts of things. She felt a sort of sadness in her chest. It was strange. They never met before, but she felt like she wanted to help him. Maybe the 'cold and ruthless' city girl had finally been replaced by the farmer that now stood in front of him.

Ever since she came to Mineral Town she had seen the good in the hearts of all of the people. Maybe her personality and kindness today grew on that, or maybe it had always been there. But she couldn't stand to see people in pain. The people of Mineral Town had their problems as well, but they were so strong. They didn't let their problems get the best of them and that always filled Claire with feelings of respect and admiration for them.

Despite how rude he knew it was, Cloud didn't respond. He didn't trust his voice and his body wasn't cooperating all that well. It felt stiff, especially in his current position. He desperately wanted to stand up and stretch out every muscle but he knew that was impossible.

There was a long pause as the two of them said nothing. However, Cloud could almost hear the questions the girl probably wanted to ask but was too afraid to. She removed her hand from his shoulder quickly, as if she had just realized it was still there.

"Um..." Claire said, not even thinking to start a conversation without even knowing what she was going to say. "Uh... D-Doctor said that you should be fully healed in about two months. The local Inn is full, so if you want you can stay with me at the farm." Her words began shaky and ended a little stronger but he could still sense a bit of anxiousness from her. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. That sounded so stupid, but it was the truth. Though now come to think of it, she only lived in a little one-room shack that could only house one person. The last owner of her farm was an old man who lived on his own so he didn't require anything bigger. He probably felt that the house would just feel empty if it was any larger than it was. Claire personally found it rather suffocating at first, but she soon got used to it. Though she still wanted to build extensions to make it bigger. It kept the money flowing through Mineral Town, and besides, she was starting to claim a fair amount of extra cash - no longer just enough to keep her farm running and herself fed, but an actual fair amount of extra cash.

But she did have that extra old bed. And while she would have to rearrange the furniture a little bit, she could fit both beds in. Though having a guy living in the same house as her would be a little bit odd, it was the good deed she could do for this person, right?

Her kindness made no sense to him. It wasn't particularly wise for a woman to invite a strange man into her home. Unless, he mused, she was like Tifa and could smash his head in at any time if she wanted to.

Finally, after another moment of silence Cloud rolled back onto his back and propped himself up with his elbows. He was feeling extremely restless all of a sudden and since his vision wasn't swaying at the moment he decided to take advantage of it and do something besides lying down. He also needed something to take his mind off the dream.

He turned to the woman, whom he was mostly sure the man from the mountain had called Claire. Seeing her clearly for the first time that he could remember, he saw how pretty she really was. She was a smaller woman but he could see an incredible inner strength that radiated around her almost like an aura and her blue eyes hinted that same strength as well. He looked away, finding the eye contact too uncomfortable.

"Yo-" He was about to ask her how she could trust him so easily when a familiar ringing cut him off. He glanced up towards the door where he saw the doctor walk into the small room holding what Cloud recognized to be his cell phone.

"I heard this ringing and thought I should probably give it to you." He stared at it as if slightly amazed by it. "But I must say I'm a little surprised. I didn't think you could get reception this far from the city."

Cloud took the small black device; he didn't even need to see the number to know exactly who was calling. It was probably Tifa, just like all of the other calls he had gotten during the past two weeks. He flipped it open and stared at it blankly as it rang; Tifa's name flashed on the tiny screen indicating that he'd guessed right. He continued to stare at it until the ringing finally stopped. A window on the screen popped up, asking him if he wanted to hear the voice message; he clicked yes.

"Cloud? Cloud, I know you're there. Pick up the phone Cloud; why don't you ever pick up your phone?" Usually Tifa's messages were calm and gentle; however, this time she sounded extremely annoyed. He supposed it was probably almost time to call her back. "Where are you? Why haven't you called me back? You're hurt again aren't you? Was it the monster? Have you killed it yet? Cloud, what's going on; it's been weeks now, stop being so stubborn. Call me; at least let me know you're still alive."

Claire listened to the message with a heavy heart. Cloud had someone who cared for him deeply, so much so that she would call him and leave messages like this in such a desperate tone. But why wouldn't he answer? Couldn't he see that he was hurting this woman? The woman that Claire automatically thought must have been his girlfriend or sister or something of the sort.

When the message was finished Cloud stared at it for a moment longer before flipping it shut again and tossing it lightly on the bed just in front of him. He wasn't quite ready to talk to her yet. It was cruel but he just couldn't give her the answers she wanted. He couldn't give anyone the answers they wanted. Sometimes, no matter how much he wanted to say something the words refused to come out. When that happened, which was quite often nowadays, he would either just leave or look away, indicating that he wasn't going to answer.

Cloud sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. Maybe after he had more sleep he would call her...Suddenly remembering he wasn't alone he looked back at Claire who seemed to have even more questions she wanted to ask. He adverted his eyes once again before speaking, hoping to change the subject away from the call. "I don't understand why you would trust a stranger into your home, but I will accept your offer." He paused before continuing, saying the last part with a little less strength. "...Thank you..."

Claire perked up when she heard Cloud finally agreeing to staying with her. A happiness welled up inside of her that seemed to make her a little energetic. It was a welcome feeling and she took full advantage of it to get the sound of that almost cryptic voice message out of her mind. "Great!" She said, happily.

She sounded so cheerful that Cloud turned to her mostly likely with a strange expression somewhere between confusion and surprise. This girl made no sense to him; she was treating him as if he were a childhood friend rather than a complete stranger. Her eyes lit up and her lips grew into a smile. She looked as though she had just been told the best news she had ever heard. Cloud turned away before she caught him staring. He wasn't used to being treated like this and he didn't think he'd ever become use to it.

She almost didn't catch the soft words that he said next; an actual display of gratefulness. The words surprised her. Her face quickly faded into a soft smile.

"You're welcome." There was a tap on Claire's shoulder and she turned her head quickly to look at the doctor, who was heading out of the room. He jabbed his thumb over to the nightstand as if to remind her of what was there. She had almost forgotten. Cloud probably hadn't even noticed them. It was a good opportunity to break the heavy atmosphere and the awkward silence that would most likely follow. Her nervousness returned, however, just the same.

"Hey, uh... you have a lot of get-well gifts from the villagers here." Claire said, moving over to the night stand where they had been propped. "News spreads in a small town like this, so eventually everyone found out. Let's see... I guess it's everyone's specialties. Spa Boiled Eggs... those can be eaten for your next meal. It's really good for you. Ah, and Mary brought a book over from the library if you get bored…"

He listened silently as she explained each gift and who they were from. He wasn't quite sure what to think of them; the only thing he had ever really been given was the sword from Zack just before he died. His muscles tightened anxiously as mind drifted back to the dream. Swallowing uncomfortably, he took a deep breath, despite how much it hurt to, and forced himself to focus on what she was saying.

Claire held up a book for a brief moment and Cloud felt his stomach tighten into knots as he read the title: Loveless. She turned the book slightly more towards him so he could see it better. A wave of relief swept through him when he realized he'd read the title wrong; however, the sick feeling did not go away. He stuck his hands underneath the blankets so she wouldn't notice them shaking.

"Ann and Doug also brought over some yummy looking food from their Inn. And look," Claire dug in her pockets and dug out the large brooch decoration that Gray had given her. "Gray made this to put on your sword if you wanted. Kinda like a decoration. It's not flawless, but you have to give him credit to be able to make something this pretty. Plus the imperfections of the metal's smoothness kind of gives it character."

Claire continued to tell him about all of the things that the villagers had given him. She looked around, trying to find something that she might have missed. She snapped her fingers when she realized that she had indeed forgotten something. "Oh, I hope you aren't lactose intolerant." She dug out a jug of cows milk, and by the looks of it, it was raw.

"This is from me. It's kind of all I can really do since it's winter time and the only products I can really get this time are ores, gems, milk, eggs and wool." She looked down at the milk in her hands, biting the left side of her lip. "I thought... it could help you since it has a lot of calcium and would help you heal better."

She set the milk down with the other gifts and pulled up a chair. She was sort of glad that it was winter time, as she didn't have a whole lot of chores to do in the winter besides look after her animals. Mining in the lake mine that was only accessible during the winter months was sort of an optional thing to make sure that she had extra money. Plus it gave her something to do.

Cloud shifted uncomfortably, his shoulders were starting to ache in his current position. However, given that his entire body ached it didn't make much difference to how much pain he was in. To be able to walk around would be nice, he thought aimlessly, knowing full well that there was no way any of these people would let him so much as try to get out of bed again, especially after what had happened last time. He hated being confined to a bed and being treated like an invalid.

Tifa was always trying to get him to stay in bed and rest a bit more too but staying in a small room for too long made him feel like a caged bird. If his attempt to leave yesterday hadn't failed so horribly he would have tried again today. Staring at nothing in particular, he sighed to himself. There wasn't much he could do without his bike so he may as well stay until it was fixed. Maybe if he talked to that man from the mountain, he could get him to arrange to have the bike sent back so he could fix it himself; it would probably take a considerably less amount of time if he worked on it himself. It would also give him something to do; he could see himself going crazy in such a small town.

Here..." She touched his shoulders and gently sat him up. She didn't move too fast, not wanting to hurt him. Her hand moved down to his lower back to keep him sitting up while she propped up pillows for him to be in a semi-upright position.

His body flinched unconsciously when Claire suddenly placed her hand on his shoulder. She pushed him to an upright position and then proceeding to place pillows behind him to prop him up. He didn't really need the pillows, or the help, to sit up on his own but he said nothing. It was almost a little surprising that she hadn't tried to get him to lie back down instead. It felt nice to sit up despite feeling rather light-headed afterwards. He found it was much easier to breath in this position than it had been lying down.

Elli soon came in and Claire walked over to her. Leaving them to their discussion Cloud busied himself with moving some of the pillows out of the way so he could lie down again. A wave of exhaustion washed over him and his head felt heavy. It was annoying that it hadn't even been half an hour since he'd woken up and already all he wanted to do was sleep. Maybe then he would phone Tifa and tell her he wouldn't be home for awhile. Of course, then he would get an earful about not phoning and never being around. He put a hand over his eyes wishing it could clear his mind and perhaps, by some miracle, dull his headache too.

"I think I'm going to go mining soon. I'll come back for him in a few hours to take him home."

"Claire, make sure you take Gray with you! It's too dangerous to go into the mines by yourself."

"Elli... I'm not going to cause a cave-in." Claire sighed. "Fine. I'll wait until Gray's off of work. It's a half-day today since tomorrow is the Winter Thanksgiving Festival. I won't mine with him for too long, he'll be too tired tomorrow to wake up to receive Mary's chocolate."

"Oh, come now. You should buy chocolate for him, too. You and him are very close friends." Elli giggled.

"And what about you? Are you going to give Doctor some chocolate?" Claire smirked, causing a blush from the young nurse.

"I-I was thinking about it..." Claire laughed.

"Yeah, don't worry, Elli. I have extra money this time so I can afford to give chocolates to all my friends this year." She talked a bit more to Elli before walking back to Cloud. He was asleep so she couldn't tell him what was going on. She was sure Elli or Doctor would fill him in if she didn't return by the time he woke up.

"Alright, I'll be back later this evening to pick him up."

"Be safe, Claire. As much as we like seeing you, we don't want you in here as often as you used to."

"Hey… I wasn't in shape then!" Claire rolled her eyes at Elli, though gave the nurse a wave as she walked out the door.


	5. Rusted Sword

So here's another update to Lost Between Words! This time I didn't want to wait very long to give everyone an update because it's not fair to my readers. Enjoy!

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By the time Cloud woke up again, Claire had returned from her trip to the mines. Elli and Doctor made sure to wrap up the food gifts for Cloud to eat. They had wanted him to eat it before he left, unfortunately he had slept the entire four hours that Claire had been gone, and then some.

The blonde farmer was busying herself with stuffing her rucksack full to the brim with Cloud's gifts. She also had a rather large basket with her, which was also stuffed almost full with various coloured rocks and gems. The rocks were actually the precious ores that were in the mines. Gray and his grandfather Saibara used them to craft various tools and accessories. In winter, Claire also sold a lot of the ores in their raw state, which were then converted into usable items for building and construction. The junk ores were always thrown away, as they were, well, junk. But the copper, silver and gold ores as well as other stones such as orihalc, mythril and sandstone were embedded in the cluster.

Claire's things were sprawled out on the floor, including all of the tools that she used for farming - her axe, hoe, watering can, sickle, animal brush, shears, milking device and hammer.

"Claire, I'll bring your basket. You worry about the wheelchair." The familiar gruff voice of the young apprentice blacksmith said, placing his fingers on the brim of his hat and lowering it over his eyes.

"Alright. Thanks, Gray."

Cloud awoke to voices in the room; one belonged to Claire and the other one was new. He listened to the voices but didn't open his eyes. He still wanted to sleep and was not exactly thrilled to have more company at the moment. If they wanted him to rest and recover so much why wouldn't they leave him alone to do so? Absently he wondered what time it was; it couldn't have been much later than before because he still felt exhausted, though, he admitted, better than before. He shifted a bit to get a little more comfortable, deciding to just ignore them and go back to sleep.

"Gramps is also coming to talk to you about your upgraded tools. Ah, speaking of which..." Gray lifted up the sword of Cloud's, which was rather beaten and rusted. It was obvious that it was used, however, neglected. Cloud had just about drifted back to sleep when a familiar metallic sound of his sword being lifted alerted his senses and he was suddenly very awake. "We'll take this home and when that stranger comes to, I'll ask him if he wants this to be cleaned up a bit. I'm sure that the old man and I can do something with it."

Claire nodded. "Saibara is always telling me to look after my tools. I never really listened to him until the head of my axe came off in mid swing and went flying into a tree." She laughed. "I never took what your grandpa said for granted ever again. After all, he is a master blacksmith. He knows what he's talking about, right?"

"Yeah." Cloud immediately connected his sword with what the man was saying he'd take home, not liking the idea. He was very possessive when it came to the sword and he didn't like it when people touched it. Ignoring the pain Cloud sat up, blinking away the sleep in his eyes.

In front of him stood Claire and a young man who was probably close to his own age. He wore a hat over his eyes so all he could see was bits of reddish hair poking out from under it. In his hand he held Cloud's sword. Cloud's eyes narrowed dangerously and his muscles tensed. There was no way he was going to let this man take his sword home, to clean it or otherwise. If he had wanted it in good condition he would have taken better care of it. He didn't use it anymore; he just carried it around now, unable to let it go completely. It made him feel like he was carrying a piece of Zack with him. The sword he used now was still on his bike, which was another reason he really needed the bike back. However, despite its sentimental value he had purposely let the sword rust over. Whenever he saw his reflection in the sword he saw Zack and was constantly reminded of how he'd failed to help him. So he let the blade rust over until he could no longer see his reflection. He felt incredibly guilty for letting it rust but it was beginning to drive him crazy; he couldn't take those accusing eyes every time he looked at it. He wanted to get rid of it but he could never gather enough courage to actually leave it behind. So, instead, he carried it around on his back where he didn't have to see it but it was still right there with him.

Seeing that Cloud was awake, Gray turned his attention to the bedridden man. "I told my grandfather about your sword. He's coming over shortly to have a look at it. He doesn't seem happy." Claire glanced at Gray with a knowing look. She knew how the old, strict man was. Gray often complained about his grandfather to her, about how he never approved of the work that he did. In fact, when Gray and Claire first met the year she came to Mineral Town, she walked in on one of their regular little spats.

Cloud remained silent for a moment before responding, trying to decide the best way of refusing the offer to clean the sword. "I would prefer that you left the sword as it is."

"I wouldn't recommend that, young man." An older man with grey hair turned the corner and came into the room. The man was heavily built with calloused hands, as gruff looking in his aged body as Grey sounded. Cloud found that he was unable to look away; the man held his gaze as if by some strange magic. He could feel nearly every muscle in his body tense and it was all he could do not to shift uncomfortably. The old man appeared strong despite his age. Cloud took note of the way he stood and the way he held the sword; it was obvious that this man knew how to use one. His eyes were sharp and alive with a look that said he'd probably seen everything there is to see, both the good and the bad.

"Tools see things - weapons especially. They've seen everything their owner has. They tell a story." Saibara took the large sword from his grandson, and stroked the broad side, his fingers taking off layers of rust, which fell to the ground. The saying sounded familiar but Cloud couldn't remember where he'd heard it or who had said it.

"It has seen many friends and foes alike die and holds their memories inside of the blade. Letting this sword rust is like an insult to their memory." Cloud felt the blood drain from his face as the old man spoke the words that, until now, he'd only heard inside his head. It was much more painful to hear them aloud, even from a stranger. The man's tone cut at him just as deeply as the words themselves; it was an obvious accusation. Cloud knew what mistreating the sword meant and it killed a little part of him every time he thought about it. For a time he had wrapped it up in cloth to avoid having to see the rust, although it seemed to have come off sometime between now and the crash. His heart felt like it was in his throat and each breath got harder and harder to take. He didn't need to be lectured; he already knew. The nauseous feeling he had gotten when Claire had shown him the book returned.

Saibara in his old age spent a great deal of time preaching to the younger generations. He knew a great deal about many different subjects, though it was really unknown to any of the villagers just how much he knew. He could tell his words spoke true for the stranger in front of him. Seeing the boy's face only confirmed to him what Saibara had feared to be true.

Claire and Gray were silent. They took in the deep meaning of Saibara's words, contemplating what it might have meant for Cloud. Saibara continued.

"Would you rather watch this sword rust away into nothing?" When the man spoke again Cloud was finally able to break the eye contact. A little unsure where to look he settled on the wall away from the people in the room. "It will show that you are afraid of your past and will never forgive yourself fully for it, no matter if everyone else has! Throw away the memories of the loved ones you've lost and wait for them to deteriorate!"

Cloud almost laughed bitterly at the truth in those words. He would never forgive himself for Zack's death, ever. The only person whose forgiveness that might have meant something was Zack's and with Zack gone, there was no way Cloud could ever obtain that. As for throwing away his memories...Cloud wished he could forget everything. He didn't want to remember a single thing. The memories of the good times spent with his deceased friends just made it harder when he knew that they were gone and he would never see them again. It was his fault anyway; when Zack died and when Aerith died. If he had been stronger...Cloud tried to swallow but his throat felt dry. He wanted to cry or lash out; he wanted to tell the old man off but he couldn't move. He just sat there with a slight forlorn expression on his face even though he was trying to look neutral, as if the old man's words meant nothing to him.

"Saibara... that's enough..." Claire said, placing a hand on the old man's shoulder. She could see that even though Cloud futilely tried to hide it, he looked pale. She had no idea what was going on, but she could tell that Cloud was just getting worse. Cloud noted that she must have noticed his pathetic expression and thankfully stopped the man from continuing. It had been a long time since Cloud had felt so grateful to another person. "Gray, I'm going to take him home. I'll take the sword home until Cloud himself makes his final decision." Gray nodded.

"I'll carry it to your farm, then. You have enough to worry about with him." Cloud's heart sank as the old man offered his help. That probably meant more cruel preaching that he didn't want to hear. Claire brought the wheel chair over, and slung her heavy and bulging rucksack on her back. Despite her looking so fragile, she was strong. After all, she carried all of her tools and items that she placed in her bag. She was used to carrying heavy things. And with Cloud in the wheel chair, it only meant that she would just go slower. Maybe it was good for Cloud, as he could finally see the scenery of Mineral Town.

Cloud almost groaned but managed to keep quiet. He eyed the device with disgust; he felt well enough to walk on his own. The thought of having to been seen being pushed in a wheelchair was humiliating. Taking a deep breath to help ground himself he shoved away the blankets and hung his legs over the bed. Standing without making it look like he was having difficulties staying up straight was a little harder than he had hoped it would be and judging by the disapproving look he caught a glimpse of from the old man told Cloud that he didn't buy it. Ignoring the glare, Cloud grabbed his cell phone and stuffed it into the pocket of his pants and headed towards the door.

"I can walk." He said quietly. Without looking at anyone, or waiting for a response he continued walking, grabbing the long handle of his sword with his left hand as he passed. He halted when the sword didn't move. Turning around he was confronted by an even greater disapproving look than before; the old man's grip did not loosen in the slightest.

"I can walk there." Cloud repeated, trying to put a little more strength into it. "And I can carry this myself." He didn't want other people carrying the blade around, especially this man. Cloud felt incredibly uncomfortable seeing the old man holding his sword.

Saibara didn't seem to believe that either and before Cloud knew what was happening, the old man grabbed his arm and shoved him into the wheelchair. Losing his balance almost immediately, Cloud basically fell into it. Not wanting to just give up Cloud tried to get up again but was stopped, and pushed back down, by a hand on his head.

"You have a surprisingly little amount of gratitude for an injured man. Typical mercenary, too much pride for his own good." The old man scoffed. For a second Cloud thought that this was another man who hated him, as much as the man from the mountain, but there was no hatred in Saibara's eyes, just disappointment. Cloud almost wished for hatred instead because it was much easier to brush off than disappointment.

"I don't care if you think you can walk. Just swallow that pride of yours and accept the kind hospitality this girl is offering you." With that said Saibara turned and exited the small room. Cloud sighed and settled himself a little better in the chair hoping it wasn't too far.

Claire took the handles of the wheelchair in her hands and began to push. A mercenary - that's what Saibara had called Cloud. Was it true that he was a mercenary? Of course, it had to be true. Saibara was a very wise man, and it was obvious that he didn't live in Mineral Town his entire life. It was also possible that Saibara knew of Cloud's profession because of the sword. Being a blacksmith, Saibara would know what tools were made for what professions.

So, if he was a mercenary, then that meant that Cloud must have seen some horrible things - done horrible things. It made a little bit more sense that Cloud would be a little bit reserved. But even though she knew what he was, things still didn't make sense. There were still many questions that Claire wanted answers to, but like Cloud said - she was a stranger. She had no business prying into his personal life, forcing him to dig up his deep dark secrets.

Even so, she wanted to know more about him. Maybe it was foolish. She already learned that he was a mercenary. That thought alone filled her with an eerie caution she hadn't felt since she lived in the city. It was foolish to think that there was the possibility that Cloud hadn't killed anyone, meaning that he was definitely someone with blood on his hands. A chilling thought. But he didn't seem murderous to her; just pained.

Surely wounds from the past would heal in time and the ghosts dissipate. Or maybe she was becoming more and more like a small-town country gal. When she lived in the city she always heard her friends complaining about how narrow-minded those from small towns and other rural areas were. That they weren't open to change and never readily accepted people and aspects that were outside of their comfort zone. Mineral Town's people were kind-hearted and good-natured, but she saw the narrow-mindedness of the villagers. But as time wore on, the oddities of the people began to seem normal, and make sense. Would Cloud see her and the others as stupid closed-minded folk who knew nothing about the outside world?

Claire looked down at the young man that was sitting in the wheelchair that she pushed. He seemed to have an annoyance with the town so far... she only hoped that she could show him the beauty of Mineral Town in the way that she knew and loved. Why she felt this way, she wasn't sure. Perhaps it was just pride for her lovely town.

They walked in silence down the pathway that was in between the Inn and the Winery. The short walk from the clinic back to Claire's house was awkward to say the least, at least for him. Although it wasn't as bad as it could have been considering that that old man had gone ahead rather than with him and Claire. Neither of them had said anything as she pushed him towards her home, which was actually probably better when he thought about it because he had never been great at conversations. It was likely that talking would have made the situation much more awkward than it already was.

A beautiful young woman a few years older than Claire burst out of the doors, shrieking her drunken giggles and stumbling down the streets. She had long dark brown hair with two thick locks of blonde that framed her head and sea-green eyes that were glazed over with alcohol. A rather dorky looking young man with long strawberry blond hair chased after her. His sapphire blue eyes looked worried, though sometimes couldn't be seen when the light of nearby lamps reflected off of his glasses. He chased after the girl, trying to make sure that she didn't do anything stupid, though she kept pushing him off, saying that she was fine.

"Karen! Not that way, that's the way to my house!"

"Sh'ttup, Rick 'm goin' the way I wantta." The girl named Karen slurred. Rick wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him as they walked the proper way.

Claire smiled as she watched the two. Rick and Karen had been childhood friends, now turned - in a way - boyfriend and girlfriend. They passed the rather slow Claire quite easily, despite Karen hindering Rick a little by her clumsy steps, however large they may have been.

Claire also noted that the ever shy Cliff was working late at the winery. He didn't say hi or anything, seeing that Claire was busy. He merely smiled warmly, nodding to her, which Claire returned both gestures before moving on. It wasn't long before they returned to Claire's farm. Cloud mostly tried to ignore the villagers still prowling the streets at this hour, believing they would do nothing but stare, or worse – want to hold a conversation.

She opened the door, propping it open with her foot while she pulled the wheelchair in. A small brown and white dog with a wide face and floppy ears began to bark at the stranger who was entering his home. He was wagging his tail, sniffing at Cloud's legs to determine who he was.

"Satch! Shhh!" Claire hissed, despite there really being no one else in the house to wake up. The high pitched noise did nothing to help sooth his growing headache. Once it had given in and went to lie down Claire stepped to the side of the wheelchair and looked at Cloud, "I'm just going to get the other bed. You can go inside and make yourself comfortable. I'll be right back." With that said, she turned around and walked into the darkness.

Cloud vacantly stared in the general direction that she left in, not really focusing on anything particular. She was a strange girl who didn't seem to be concerned with letting a complete stranger into her home. It must be pretty peaceful in this village for her to be so at ease. His home town had been small and friendly too, although Cloud never let himself think too much about it after it was savagely burned to the ground along with all of it inhabitants. Turning his head away, Cloud sighed, rubbing his face. His mind felt abused and pushed to its limits but his body felt restless and ready to move around. Only, his body also felt stiff and sore, which made the later that much more difficult.

He swept his gaze through the small house, quickly noticing that it was only one room. Was she really okay with this? Or did she believe she had no choice due to some kind of religious belief or horrible dictatorship? Cloud ran a hand though his hair, immediately dismissing those ideas. Of course it wasn't, the people here so far had been far too friendly and happy. She was just way too kind for her own good...or maybe he just couldn't accept that a person could be so kind. An image of Aerith came to mind causing Cloud to jerk upright, a little unprepared for such a comparison. She'd do the same thing without a second thought; there wasn't a cruel bone in her body. Now that he thought about it Claire was a lot like her, polite but strong spirited, frail in appearance but completely capable of doing anything she wished. She was also loved by everyone...His heart skipped a few beats as he contemplated this and suddenly he wasn't quite sure if _he _could stand sleeping in the same room.

Taking a deep breath Cloud looked around, for what, he wasn't really sure. Claire had gone off somewhere else and hopefully would be a little while longer so he could have time to rid himself of thoughts of the similarities between her and Aerith. His eyes settled on the barn not too far from where he currently sat; the place where it had all began, for the most part anyway. Maybe if he slept in there...Claire probably would be completely against it and, of course, there'd be no way he would ever be able to explain why he would rather sleep in the barn.

After several seconds of deliberation, Cloud finally decided to at least put his sword inside so it would still be under a roof but not inside the house where he would be able to constantly feel its presence. He didn't think he could take it, not after everything that man had said and especially not with the presence of Aerith that he would mostly likely be feeling now. There would be no limit to the number of nightmares he would have because of it.

Shifting to the edge of the chair to stand up, Cloud did his best not to fall flat on his face. He braced himself with a hand on the side of the house while he steadied himself and waited for the black spots dotting his vision to clear away. When he didn't feel quite so disoriented anymore he walked to his sword, which the old man had left propped up against the side of the house, and gripped the long handle firmly with his left hand; he didn't think he could lift it with his right at the moment. After another few deep breaths Cloud lifted the sword off the ground and placed it on his shoulders in one swift yet slightly awkward motion. The weight from the sword almost made him fall as he swung it around but somehow he'd managed to remain standing. With about a days worth of sleep under his belt now he felt light years better than he had the day before. While he was no where near ready to leave he could at least carry his sword now.

He slowly trudged towards the barn, barely managing not to stumble. One wrong move and the weight of the sword would send him face first into the snow and probably unable to get back up. The edge of the weapon dug painfully into his shoulder but he easily ignored it because it blended in with the rest of the pain he was feeling. His chest; however, was not so easily ignored. Breathing was excruciatingly painful, especially when he tried to take deeper breaths. Merely walking was using up way too much of his energy, labouring his breathing, which really wasn't helping.

Staggering to the barn door he leaned forwards on it almost gasping for breath but desperately trying not to. His sword felt ten times heavier than it had only moments ago. He couldn't begin to fathom how he had made it from the clinic to the mountains, although he also couldn't remember much of that trip; it was mostly just a blur.

Cloud tightened the grip on the handle, blinking away more black spots. When he had slowed his breathing down a bit he reluctantly took another deep breath and heaved the door open, stumbling inside. He tripped over his own feet as he entered the barn and would have fell if not for him stabbing the ground with his sword, by reflex mostly, and using it to stop himself. He groaned as the corner of the sword jabbed into his chest, not incredibly hard but enough to leave him blind with pain for a couple moments. 

The cold winter air nipped at Claire's exposed skin - her face and fingertips being the most sensitive. She shivered in spite of herself. It was only the beginning of the winter season and Claire knew that the nights would be just as chilly, if not more as the days wore on. Despite the break that she got to have during the winter, she couldn't help but wish for spring.

It meant that she would have to clear her field of stumps, twigs, stones and boulders before she could till her fields for planting. She always hated the start of the year because she would have to do all of that work. But once the initial hard labours were done she would have an easier time maintaining it. She was determined to get the entirety of her fields tilled and ready for planting this year.

Being a farmer, she was always busy doing other things. She often foraged for herbs and other things that she could sell on the side along with her animal products and produce. They alone couldn't give her a sufficient income. The mushrooms, herbs, bamboo shoots and flowers she found all proved to be beneficial to her purse, and mining was always a very successful way to make money as well, though strenuous.

She finally managed to trudge over to the shack that she used for storage. There, she immediately set eyes on the old and slightly worn bed set that she had propped against the wall. There was only one problem - she had placed other things between her and the bed. Sighing, she began to move the junk that she had collected, placing them in towers where they would be out of the way for the duration of when she was hunting for her bed. The mattress would do for now; no sense in getting the entire set out in one night or she would spend most of the night hauling it through the cold into her house. If she did that, she would sleep right through her alarm and wake up late. That wouldn't be very good, considering that even though it was winter, she spent a good portion of her day in the mines. But now she had someone else to look after, and half of her time would be with him as well.

She was glad that she decided to spend a lot of her time in the mines and foraging for extra money. And while she had been saving up for a long time to expand her chicken coop, she knew that using the money she had on her charge.

Finally, she had cleared the last of the old junk so that they wouldn't fall, break or make any mess when she tried to pry out the mattress. Once she had that done, she knew that she would have to haul the thing back across the yard and into her house. She couldn't just drag it - it would get wet, and probably be even harder than just carrying the thing on her back. With a groan, she lifted it up and clumsily packed it back to her house.

She was pretty sure that she had placed the wheelchair well out of the doorway entrance. That was good; she didn't want to hurt Cloud by smacking him with the thing. It would be hard enough to set up her house to compensate for the bed. She would have to move a lot of things around. Her table would be one thing. She could move it towards her basement stairs more as well as the carpet and other things like her toolbox. She was pretty sure that her wardrobe chest and nightstand that held her telephone were fine where they were. She wouldn't have to move them. 

When his vision had cleared once again and the intensity of the pain had gone down, he stood up a little straighter and pulled the sword out of the ground, staggering backwards a little when it suddenly came out. Moonlight shone through the crack in the doorway, falling on his sword, lighting it up and making it far too clear than Cloud would have liked. He stared at the sword, frozen in place. The words that old man had said drifted back to haunt him once more.

Slowly Cloud raised a hand and brushed it over the cold steel watching small bits of rust fall down the length of the blade. It really was in bad shape and would eventually rust away into nothing it he didn't do something soon. He really didn't want to see the blade clean again and yet...there was nothing he wanted more.

_"You know, I've never seen you use that."_

The words he had spoken to Zack invaded his mind and he thought back to how Zack treated the blade. Zack really had never used it, at least, not while he was around anyway.

"Dreams and honour..." He spoke under his breath not really aware that he had said it out loud. That was what Zack had always said. This sword had meant everything to Zack. Before he died Zack had given him his most cherished possession and he just...Suddenly he felt something shove him, gently, but he was so startled he dropped the sword and jerked away unconsciously. Immediately he lost his balance and fell gracelessly to the ground. Wincing, he lifted his head up to take a look at his attacker. It was one of the girl's cows. He must have woken it up when he came in. The creature just stared at him vacantly, mooing softly. Eyeing the cow for a moment longer he turned his gaze back to the sword. 

Managing to squeeze through the door, Claire leaned over to see where Cloud was in the wheelchair to judge the distance that she could go before she was forced to stop and move. What she saw made her heart stop for a brief moment – he was gone.

All sorts of thoughts ran through her head when she saw the empty wheelchair. That he had suddenly changed his mind and decided to go find his bike, or going to look for something else that was important to him that he must have lost. Or maybe he had caught a cold and became delirious, forgetting that he was supposed to stay with her in Mineral Town and went to go and complete whatever he was coming through town to do. Did he have pain medication somewhere on his body? Did he take some so that he could walk around more and possibly make his injuries worse?

She ran to the kitchen and took out a flashlight that she kept in one of the drawers, wanting to search for him before he got too far to wherever he was going. She followed his trail in a familiar direction – that direction being to her barn. Questions filled the girl's mind once more as she wondered why he went back to the barn. Maybe he was looking for something, thinking that he might have lost it in here. She saw that the heavy barn door was ajar slightly, and the light seeping through in thin streams of light. 

Cloud crawled over to where it fell to see if it was okay. Falling onto half frozen ground in its condition could potentially damage it. He touched it lightly with his fingertips, relieved that it was fine. His fingers paused before turning into a fist as his thoughts returned back to Zack. Squeezing his eyes shut to stop any potential tears he could feel threatening to come he rested his forehead on the side of the blade.

He wanted to forget everything from his past, everything that he had seen, everything that he had done, everyone that he had met. However, he had never wanted to insult the memories of anyone he had ever cared about. That hadn't been his intention.

"Zack...I...I'm sorry."

Zack... Claire heard him say that name before. Was it the name of the sword? No – he didn't look the type to name his swords like some people did; not like she ever met anyone who had. Then, it must have been the name of someone close to Cloud who had died, either recently or a long time ago. That probably meant that Saibara had hit closer to home than Claire thought in terms of Cloud, though whether or not the old blacksmith knew this or not was a mystery. She could never really tell with him.

Finally, her legs listened to her brain and moved when she commanded, and stepped closer to him. She couldn't really hear the sound of her own footsteps over the mooing of the cows and other noises that the animals made in protest to Cloud waking them up and bringing in a rather sharp weapon. As she neared, she saw that he didn't know of her presence behind him. Seeing as she didn't want to startle him, she decided to speak. "Cloud?" She placed a hand on his shoulder. Cloud instantly opened his eyes, his sight blurred from unshed tears, when he heard his name. However, it was the familiar voice that stunned him out of his momentary grief. He didn't even move when a hand was placed on his shoulder; he was too enthralled by the voice. How long had it been since he'd heard her voice? Cloud mentally shook his head, there was no way he could be hearing her, unless he was dreaming, but the pain in his body felt much too real to be a dream. "What are you doing here? It's getting really late."

His heart beat faster and felt like it was climbing into his throat. Slowly he lifted his head off the ground and turned towards the speaker, desperately wanting to see her face again. Through his tear blurred vision he saw a girl bending over, the moonlight from behind her causing a halo effect which darkened her face a little so he couldn't see much detail. For a long moment Cloud stared at the form of one of the people he had been longing to see; he couldn't see her entirely well but it didn't matter. Somehow she was here. He blinked in both disbelief and to clear his vision, causing welled up tears to fall from his eyes even though his previous misery was long forgotten.

"Aer-" 

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As always, I would like to thank my readers and the wonderful feedback they give me. That's all.


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